Archive for Recipes

Pot Roast Made Easy

Pot Roast is a classic. It has been around for centuries, I bet. Obviously longer than I’ve been alive (at least I hope so). It is a favorite in most households that eat red meat. It is one of those recipes that everyone has one or more, and they are all different and everyone says theirs is the best, including me!

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies anyone? Yes!

The Nestle company has been around long enough to celebrate their 75th anniversary. And their chocolate chip recipe has been around for just about as long. Then why is it every time I serve these to anyone, they have to ask me for the recipe?

Seriously? Chocolate chip cookies? You don’t know how to make these things that have been made since before most of us were born? Our mothers made these! Our grandmothers made these!

Nestle chocolate chip cookies have been the best for over 75 years!

Here’s the recipe! Make some next weekend, take them to work, and be prepared to wow everyone who takes a bite!

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 5 dozen, depending on the size of your portioning

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use vanilla bean paste for a bit of a stronger flavor, the same 1 tsp)

Grown Up Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Grilled cheese sandwiches are one of the simplest things to make. As long as you don’t burn them. They are a staple go to meal in case of an emergency. They go really good with tomato soup and oyster crackers. Most of us grew up with grilled cheese sandwiches.

But let’s try a sandwich fit for a goddess, why don’t we?

The Goddess Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Makes 2 sandwiches (either one or two servings, depending on how hungry you are)

Ingredients:

4 slices white bread

4 to 6 slices Kraft american cheese, unwrapped (depending on how cheesy you like it)

6 slices fully cooked bacon, chopped into bite sized pieces

Several pats of butter or margarine

Steps:

Heat a medium skillet over slightly above medium heat. On a stove that has numbers 1-9, I use a 6.

Put a pat of butter in the pan, and immediately drop two slices of bread into the pan. You want to do this so the butter doesn’t start to burn before the bread goes in there.

Using your fingers, push the bread around to get the melting butter to soak up into the bread.

Place 2 slices of cheese on top of each bread.

Sprinkle half of the bacon bits on top of each stack of cheese.

Place the other slices of bread on top.

Do not touch the sandwich. Let it cook for approximately 60-90 seconds. If you use a spatula to peek underneath, you will see the bread turning golden brown. DO NOT let it start to burn.

Remove both sandwiches form the pan and place on a plate.

Add more butter to the pan and immediately put the sandwich back in the pan with the uncooked side down.

Again, using your fingers, push the sandwich around to soak up the butter.

Cook the flip side for another minute, peek again with a spatula, and remove when the bread is golden brown.

Put on a plate, cut diagonally, and serve.

Variety:

Use other types of bread, such as potato bread or sourdough bread for a heartier flavor.

Throw on a slice of tomato before cooking. The tomato won’t overcook, because it’s not on the heat very long.

Use a different cheese. Use shredded sharp cheddar cheese for a more sophisticated taste.

I apologize for the lack of picture. Will add one next time I make the recipe.

Chicken Pot Pie

Do you know what it is?

The stuff you buy in the supermarket, courtesy of Swanson, Stoffeurs, Marie Calendar’s, etc, is NOT Chicken Pot Pie. That is a savory meat pie. A true pot pie is from Pennsylvania Dutch country. It is made completely in a pot. Hence the name, Pot Pie. It is not put into a pie crust, it uses noodles as the starch. You can say it is more a chicken stew than a pie. I can only assume they used the word pie because the noodles, when cooked, have more of a soft pie crust texture than a firm noodle texture. If any PA Dutch people out there can correct me, please do so!

This takes a little time to prepare, but the cooking itself doesn’t need any real attention, except to stir once in a while. What a treat that is!

Ingredients

Stock to Gravy Mixture

1 tsp celery seed (I usually don’t use this, but it does add a nice bite)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley or 1/2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes

5 chicken bouillon cubes

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks

4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch discs

Pasta

12 oz package… Let’s make this easy. Find Pennsylvania Dutch Square (Pot Pie) Egg Noodles, or “bott boi” noodles. Check out all your local grocery stores (Wegman’s, San Giorgio, Mrs. Miller) are the most well known brands.

Directions

Pre-emptive:

If you bought a whole chicken, you need to cut it into four pieces. Cut the breast in half with your chef’s knife (or if you have kitchen shears), and then cut where the breast and the leg come together. If you feel around, you will be able to tell where the joints are, and just cut between. REMEMBER! Wash your hands after handling raw chicken before you touch anything else!

This is what this delicious recipe looks like when it starts

1. Make the gravy

Fill the largest pot (that you have a lid for) you have with 2 quarts water; that’s about 8 cups. I know that sounds like a lot, but you need that much to make the tasty broth.

Bring the soon-to-be stock to the boiling point, cover with a lid, and then turn the heat down to a simmer. Let this simmer for an hour, stirring only occasionally (because you have big chicken pieces in there) or until chicken can be easily slid from the bones (an hour should just about do it).

When the chicken is done (it will reheat at the end), remove it from the pot and place it on a cutting board.

Congratulations! You just made your first stock!

3. Bring your stock back to a boil, add the potatoes and carrots, and drop in a handful of the noodles at a time (not all at once!).

4. Stir the soup after each noodle drop to help keep them from sticking together.

5. Cover with the lid and let your concoction cook for roughly 20 minutes, or until noodles are cooked and the vegetables are done (they should be just fork piercing, not falling apart). The broth will thicken as the noodles cook, because the noodles will grab some of the broth to rehydrate.

6. While this concoction is cooking, remove the skin from the chicken, and the chicken from the bones with your hands by ripping and peeling it off (it is very easily removed), and cut it into small chunks or strips.

7. Add the chicken back to the pot to heat through, roughly 3-4 minutes.

8. Put the chicken pot pie into soup bowls and serve. Yummy!

Of course, being a home cooked meal, serve this with salad and bread. That is really all you need.

Hint:

You can make the noodles from scratch, but as a diy home goddess who is trying to get down basics, it may take some time to get them right. Here is a website for the classic homemade noodle. Chicken Pot Pie.

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About Hestia Athena

I dare to be different. I like the old days, when we did things ourselves and were proud of it! We have enough people in the world who choose to be just like everyone else. Stop following the crowd and put your stamp on the world. At least put your stamp on your world. Give your home your character. Your creativity. Your heart. Vive la difference!